Requiem Park
by Zergface
Summary: Is the apocalypse inevitable? Without guns, ships or planes, sometimes the most that we can ask for is a heartwarming hug.
1. Horizon Lights

Tsuchinoko wanted to say she was alarmed at the sight of the lights beyond the horizon, but at this point everyone had gotten used to them.

She thought it was funny, sitting at the maw of a cave. From her dark sanctuary she was shielded from the wrath of a harsh desert sun, one that she didn't mind too much after living here all her whole life.

But here it was getting dark, and with the sun hugging the horizon it was bound to get cold soon. Tsuchinoko wasn't a fan of the cold, leading her to tuck her hood tighter over her blue hair in silent apprehension. Twilight rays dipped the tips of mountains in gold as the rolling sands yearned to match the color of the deep, dark sky up above. There were stars where the sunlight faded, stars stretching from the peak of the Sandstar Mountain all the way to the shallow cracks at her feet.

But those lights on the horizon - past the plains and beyond the ocean - those weren't stars. They couldn't be stars. Not with the way they moved, the manner they flew and the way they popped with fire at the end of their line. Stars didn't leave trails.

She wanted to explain that to Sand Cat down by the sands, but Sand Cat quickly grew more interested in the Japari Bun she was eating and wasn't much of an eager listener. Tsuchinoko had to talk with someone… she couldn't be the only one to be invested in those lights every night for how long now? Days? A week?

What were they? Where did they come from? Why were they there?

The confines of her cave bore no answers, leading the snake-girl to sigh. She was always bound to deal with these things on her own, wasn't she? That wasn't going to be a problem. She'd deal with this in her head, by herself. She always did. Why change now?

That thought led the hooded girl to think of solutions: how would she solve the mystery of the lights?

The professors could help. They knew everything, from all the animals in Japari Park to how to read a textbook from cover to cover without a dictionary, they were the ones people came to if they had questions. But if she asked them, would it really be her own discovery?

Tsuchinoko toyed with the thought as she lied down on the cold, hard stone beneath her.

Stone…

There was an area in Japari Park made of stone. A city, she thought it was called once. Tsuchinoko did her research and knew that once upon a time, it was home to a plethora of animals - but now? The fracturing structures and plant growth made life too difficult to be comfortable.

Still, while people didn't live there, relics of the past lingered on. Relics of humanity, the species rumored to wield lights and harness the power of the earth.

If there was a place to start looking into clues for the horizon lights, the city was a good place to look.

Tsuchinoko couldn't help but smile. At first light, that's where she would go. But for now…

A yawn stretched from her chest to her lips, bringing the girl to rest her weary head.

The night was young, and tomorrow was a long way away. She'd need all the rest she could get to make the trip in one day.

* * *

It's June, 2022.

Japari Park's nice this time of year, or so they told us back on the ship. I've been around long enough to know that it costs an arm and a leg to trust the guys at the top, and I sure as hell wasn't the one paying to find out.

We packed our bags an hour ago. I didn't have much to bring but neither did anyone else, even Farragut, the poor bastard. Before the war he'd always take a set of these Pokémon trading cards from home and stick them in his bag, calling it good luck or something. Everyone laughed at that, even Sergeant Dalloway, which was a first because I've never really seen him show expression like that before. Still, he had to leave those cards behind in Seattle when the celliens came, and in a way, that's when we all stopped laughing. Not much got out of there in the end.

"You alright?"

Farragut nudged my shoulder, worry in his eyes. Blinking twice, even I couldn't believe how out of focus I was.

We were here to reinforce the main invasion force, not to take the brunt of any action. I had trouble sleeping last night at the thought of our overall objective - the destruction of what we suspect to be to queen of the cellien hive mind.

Lots were still unknown and I wasn't well informed, but I did know that this whole ordeal could be the one to finish this worldwide struggle. That meant a lot, especially after seeing so much carnage back home.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good." I nodded, fidgeting with the helmet that was a tinge too tight for me. "Just been thinking, that's all."

It was hard to talk with one another over the engine of the SH-60 helicopter we were in, which was why we had headphones cupped over our ears for communication. All twelve of us were crammed into two rows of seats, each facing one another in the dim light of morning that could make anyone feel drowsy.

His words were laced in static, but somewhere between the lines I could hear a compassion that reminded me of who we used to be. Who we all still were. Right?

"Oh, shut up, Roebuck." It was Farragut teasing me again that led me to rub my eyes, careful to keep a handle on my M4. Roebuck was my father's last name. It was weird to hear it as my own, to say the least. "You're… thinking? Gee, guys, get a load of this!"

Strapped into a seat across from me, Dalloway, our platoon sergeant, spoke up. "We're all thinking, Farragut. Leave the man alone."

The respectable sergeant was beloved by all of us, and not even Farragut wanted to get on his bad side. The silent code of comradery brought all twelve of us closer than brothers over the past year, especially when the families of our own were thousands of miles away. For privates Quincy and Leonard, we were the the only guys they got.

"I hear the reason that we got called in so soon was because all the marines got wiped out. Buddy of mine's on the _Ronald Reagan_." Farragut said as a matter of fact, referring to the aircraft carrier flagship that accompanied our invasion fleet.

"Hey, just shut up with that crap." Someone spoke for all of us who had never been in a real landing before. "Not needed, Farragut."

"Just saying." The lowly Private shrugged. "You know what happened last time we tried coming to Japari Park."

I shuddered at the thought. It was censored like the rest of the information on Japari Park, but it was impossible to keep word from spreading of Operation Righteous Resolve, the attempted special forces raid on the islands in 2016. The evacuation of the island, which might as well have been a lifetime ago, left everyone in the dark as to the cellien threat's composition. 70% of the guys were said to have lost their lives in the first week, with the month-long operation concluding with a botched withdrawal. All that for what, a few pictures?

That didn't fill me with much confidence. No one wanted a repeat of Righteous Resolve, but such a weighty failure wasn't a reassurement in the slightest.

"November one-niner to baseplate," the helicopter pilot radioed back to the _Ronald Reagan_, and everyone could overhear it over our communications network. "Transports one through ten are five minutes out from the drop point. Interrogative, can you contact November one-eight? They're not responding to hails, over."

"Baseplate to one-niner, one-eight's communications should be five by five, what's the issue, ov-"

The grainy voice of our commander was cut off my an enormous explosion off to the helicopter's right. A shockwave running through our machine forced me to clutch the straps holding me in, the rattling beast groaning in protest.

"Woah, one-eight's been hit! One-eight's hit!"

Hit? With what? There wasn't supposed to be any resistance, and even then, how could one of those creatures get so close without us knowing?

"Jesus…" the pilot trailed off. The burning heap of helicopter plummeted to the ocean below, breaking into pieces that scattered beneath the waves. "Any idea of what took them down?"

"N-nothing, I got nothing!" The copilot stammered. Flicking their surface search radar on and off returned nothing, and their radar warning receiver indicated that nothing man made was trying to target them. "I'm looking around, just keep an eye out for something, anything!"

Chatter flooded the rear of the vehicle as all twelve of us dove into confusion. The sergeant didn't have anything to reassure the men, but even he knew that he couldn't calm us down. Tucking his head low, I had an idea of what to expect.

"One-niner to one-three, do you see anything?" The pilot brought the vehicle to descend in altitude, hoping to skim the water and mask themselves against the surface.

"Negative, no, nothing." The pilot on the other end was trying not to panic, but the heaving in their breath betrayed them. "One-four's turning back, the bastard."

I grimaced, focusing on keeping my own breathing together. I didn't know much, but anyone could see that collapsing organization would spell doom for any ground operation.

"One-three to one-niner, do you see that? Looks to be a dark splotch off to your… bearing zero-three-zero. Flying maybe fifty feet above the surface, what is that?"

"Are those fuckin' celliens?" Our copilot stammered. "Oh hell, we're in for it now."

"Report to Baseplate that we're feet dry, intercepted by a group of fly-guys to the north."

Celliens still couldn't be detected by radar unless they had assumed a metallic form, even when in a group. Limiting ourselves to visual or other close range detection systems ruined our capacity to fight on our own terms along with rendering half our weapons obsolete. It shouldn't come as a surprise to know we've been on the back foot this whole time, and right now we're really paying for it.

"Fuck it, drop 'em off now!" The man at the controls pulled us up and around, coasting at terrain altitude with the hand of a careful and experienced pilot.

The windows on the side of our helicopter were hard to see out of with everyone crammed in tight and the maneuvers yanking my head around, but I could see how we're were right above the trees. We had finally come over land, rushed past an old harbor and entered the outskirts of some forlorn metropolis. Sunrise harbor, it was called… it led to an area lost to time.

It was so surreal, seeing a city in such disrepair. Many years had passed since humans wandered these streets. Buildings without windows, faded paint, vines around signposts and leaves between the concrete as far as the eye can see. Even the streets had been cracked open as tree roots were free to grow beneath them. Once upon a time this place was home to both people and what was rumored to be animal people - but the cover up hid all the facts.

Was this what would happen to us, too? New York, Los Angeles, Hartford, Houston… the places we pledged to defend were under attack now. I'd never let our homes look like this, never. Over my dead body - that's what I promised my father before stepping out the old front door for the last time. Well, I hope it wasn't the last time.

"We're in the thick of it now, boys!" The pilot shouted, bringing me back to reality as he did whatever he could to keep cool. That wasn't easy with a swarm of those celliens catching up to us. The other helicopters swept through the streets, weaving between skyscrapers in an effort to lose the celliens following us.

We were not supposed to be dropped off here and everyone knew it. But what choice did we have?

The rotary-winged beast lowered us to the roof of what seemed to be an antiquated parking garage. It was devoid of cars, with the last few strewn about being rusted to kingdom come. The vast, exposed space was a lucky find for us, and in no time the doors swung open.

Piling out without a second thought, our team flooded through the doors and ducked low, spreading out as the last man stepped off. I felt my body boil as I crouched low beside Farragut, eyes on the sky.

"See you later, November." Sergeant Dalloway radioed our ride, signaling that we were all off safely. "Until next time."

"Ditto." They replied, ascending towards the sun - only to be engulfed by the swarm of celliens.

It was hard to make out individual creatures as they tackled the SH-60 with what looked to be a mammoth-sized gut punch. Some circular, some with stringy appendages, others had claws and teeth - but they all smashed through our helicopter right over our heads.

There wasn't even a scream. Just an explosion, with chunks and pieces crumbling out of the sky.

"Go, downstairs!" Dalloway barked, waving us all towards an old stairwell. We would've taken the car ramp, but it had long since caved in. "Now!"

No one thought twice about the order, and in no time, the whole group rushed into the musky garage, escaping the carnage above us.

As the second to last to pile down, I stole a glance of the other helicopters further down the street. The celliens caught up with them in no time at all and I admit that I was too afraid to see the rest.

Safely a level below the surface, we took a moment to catch our breath. The interior of the structure was no better off than the exterior with the air cool, almost smelling damp.

My footsteps echoed over ancient concrete as we set up a perimeter at the base of the stairs, everyone instinctively taking a position to cover any angles that could betray a cellien's approach.

"Everyone here?" The sergeant barreled down the stairs, pointing at us as he counted for attendance. "Alright."

"The fuck was that?" Farragut demanded, crouched with his weapon pointed into the unknown. "We just-"

"Oh, shut up already!" Someone spat from the rear.

"That was a lot, I know. But we're safe." The sergeant wasn't having any of it, but he could tell that everyone was on edge. "And we have a mission to do."

"A mission? We're here to regroup with the main force. Where even are they? Not here, that's where." Farragut never failed to make my blood curdle. This really wasn't needed.

"Take five." The sergeant decisively ignored Farragut. "When those flying fucks pass, I'm heading to the roof to radio command. They should know by now that everyone's gone."

Dalloway's words… everyone's... gone.

I didn't want to believe it was true, and it was easy to see otherwise. We had all been grouping together on the deck of the aircraft carrier, mingling, and I even had struck up a conversation with Barry in the sixth squad on what we had wanted to do with our lives. It was nice to get your head out of the game for a bit, forget the facts that we faced Armageddon at the hands of an enemy unknown.

He was a good guy, that's what I remember. Electrical engineer before the draft, and Barry was old enough to by my dad. Two kids without a wife, a home by the 7/11 and very insisting on his boys to perform well in high school. Reminded me on how strict my own father was to me, especially when he said how he regret not giving them the time they deserved. Lots of regrets these days. Regrets for all of us.

He lived out west by San Francisco, the poor guy. Volcanoes and seismic activity around there happened on Sandstar and Cellium before people figured out what was going on.

Still, it's hard to think about what happened to him now. What happened to the people he left behind. Is this how a story ends? How we all end? To be carried on by the people we last spoke to, the ones we last touched… That thought tagged along at the edges of my imagination as the Sergeant spoke up.

He was headed for the roof.

Without another word, we went up the same steps as the ones we escaped down from, shadows from the old world's sun being the last trace of him I saw.

Us left remained in the dark.

* * *

Tsuchinoko knew of underground passageways that ran through certain areas in park, most notably around Sunrise Harbor, its amusement park and the old city.

Very few Friends liked the damp confines of what the professors said were once sewers, human made corridors that were used for reasons still unknown to even the brightest minds the park had to cover.

There was a sewer entrance in the savanna, right on the border of the city area.

The morning came and went as a breeze to the snake girl, who passed through the plains and skirted around the jungle to finally make it to the savanna. The path was long and winding to travel on foot, but Tsuchinoko was committed.

On the way she encountered a plethora of other Friends, like Lion, Moose, their armies and many others - all of which were interested as to what drew the desert dweller so far away from her home.

Of course Tsuchinoko did her best to keep to herself. She didn't want anyone to interfere with her plans, and the last thing she wanted was for others to tag along with her.

Unfortunately, her mystery and intrigue might have had the opposite effect. After an encounter with Moose's girls in the plains, Friends in the savanna had an idea of what Tsuchinoko was up to before she even made it there!

If people were talking with one another about her quest, that could be bad. Attention was bad. For all she knew, they might be following her towards danger.

Even then, the mention of horizon lights was enough to draw the attention of other interested Friends to the city. By word of mouth, no less.

Tsuchinoko knew that the sewers would take her there faster than on land. The all consuming dark of the tunnels wouldn't be an issue to the snake, who relied on scent and common sense to navigate.

Whatever lie ahead, whatever facts might arise - anything there would live on past her speculation. Anything of her own discovery.

With other curious minds headed for the same destination, Tsuchinoko had to the the first one there.

* * *

The sergeant sulked down the stairs of the parking garage with a firm look that he wore far too often these days.

I was waiting for him, as was everyone else. The silence had been broken by nothing but the sounds of sporadic, futile gunfire further out. People must've survived the celliens. Someone had to. Maybe it was Barry, that poor bastard.

Dalloway gathered us all together, bringing our attention onto him and him alone, perimeter be damned. That's how I knew something was up.

The news no one wanted to hear was true. Our anxieties became a reality as our sergeant confirmed the loss of the infantry.

We were the last organized group out there, aside from the marines, of whom command had lost communications with for several hours now without telling anyone. They sent us out here to die? Into these smoke-choked skies where anything could happen, nothing good of course, thinking that our very lives would be best spent on what might as well have been a lost cause?

Not only that, but the fleet was in the thick of combat. Nothing could be spared to assist in our recovery. Cellien swarms had been pestering the navy all week, coming in close without mercy or the slightest desire for self preservation. Reminiscent of kamikaze strikes, the constant stress forced me through dozens of restless nights.

And here we were. Stranded in a parking garage with a hopeless objective and no way to get home.

This was chaos.

But chaos was our element. Maybe not mine, but Sergeant Dalloway had an idea on what to do. He always did. With an iron fist and a look of steel, we regrouped, stopped chattering about the impossibilities and what couldn't be done, and told us to face the facts.

We still had our guns and we were still able to kick ass. Right?

That's what I kept telling myself as we were made to move out. Downstairs. Deeper into the parking garage. Into the dark.

Nothing good, I thought. Not with the celliens out in force. Not with them fielding such immaculate coordination.

That usually implied the presence of a leader in the area. Their hive mind was crude and even harmless when isolated or without a leader. But in the same way there was a cellien queen somewhere, there were what we called kings. They were like junior officers. I've never seen one for myself, but the thought of such celliens existing terrified me.

A smart bug. Like from starship troopers, I thought. But that was fiction. This was real. The similarities between fact and fiction made my head spin as we formed a column on the ramp.

I took up the rear, sticking close behind the Sergeant and in front of Farragut. I wanted to say that the air was tense, but everything was too surreal to feel true. Too surreal for things to make sense.

Farragut asked me if I was ready, but I couldn't find the right words to respond. Not now, at least.

Sergeant Dalloway huffed. Something about Farragut, as obnoxious as he was, was a consistent variable in all this carnage where familiarity was a luxury.

He gave the order to move out, and that's when we started for the bottom floor. Weaving through old cars, piles of rebar and concrete, and slimy patches of weak ground attracted more attention than keeping my weapon at the ready for an ambush.

Flashlights flicked on as we went deeper down - we didn't have night observation devices, or NODs, because we didn't expect to be out in the night. Shadows played with my imagination as we turned corners, down another ramp and-

The floor below me crumbled. The sudden loss of stable ground beneath my feet led me to open my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Shouts from the others accompanied the sound of collapse. Cracks, debris, the world slipped from my eyes as my weapon was wrenched from my grasp as I plummeted down, down, down…

Until the ground met my rear. Hard.

It was a landing atop jagged concrete, and with that my head, legs, arms and chest broke the wind out from under me as my rifle clattered away.

My eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden influx of darkness before struggling to look up where I fell from. This whole place was deathly black. Light from my weapon's flashlight, off to my side, illuminated an old wall that looked wet to the touch. This whole place chilled my skin and bones to my core.

No heads dared to poke through the hole above. The ground was far too unsteady around it to support someone's weight… damn. It just couldn't last another person, huh.

"Roebuck! Roebuck!" Came the calls.

My squad had broken up, and I could swear that Sergeant Dalloway was telling them to form a perimeter, but my head was still too fuzzy to interpret anything coherent. Did I get a concussion?

"I'm… I'm okay." I struggled to reply, holding myself off the rebar with the use of my forearms.

"We'll, uh…" Sergeant Dalloway's voice rang true, uneasy yet upholding authority. "We'll come for you. Just…"

He sighed.

"Roebuck. We got to move." Pausing for a moment, I wondered how much of him was thinking on the fly and how much was rational thought. "We'll have come to back for you later."

"Later?" I whimpered.

"Yes."

I looked into the dark. What was this place? It might be an old sewer pipe running beneath the city, or it could've been some basement under the parking garage. Either way, it was nowhere anyone wanted to be.

"So hang tight. Stay around here. Try not to move. Are you hurt?" The sergeant asked. Presumably he was worried.

"I'm fine. I'm… fine."

"I promise someone will come back for you. We'll regroup with the marines and let them know what happened around here. Mission comes first. You know this, Roebuck."

"U-understood." I tried to nod, rolling over to retrieve my rifle.

"Good luck." He said down the hole before turning away. "Alright, everyone, let's get it going! Watch out for unstable patches of ground."

What? Only now does he tell us to be careful? This was insane. Ludicrous. Fuck…

"Allen," Farragut paused by the hole. That was my first name, one that no one in the military typically called people by. "I'll remember you."

His last words before walking away were beyond chilling. He'll remember me? Is that supposed to mean I'm dead? I swear, if he's trying to be nice he ought to keep trying. Still… using my first name was odd. I didn't tell people many my name, as there was never a need for it. I suppose it's supposed to mean something. Funny thing is, right now, I can only see whatever that is as something bad.

A minute passed. Two. Three. Four? It wasn't long before I lost track of time. All I know is that their footsteps were gone by the time I got myself together.

It was hard to stand and my rifle was much too short to be used as a crutch. With pain in my back and my legs suffering at the joints, walking a mile was off the agenda.

Damn…

In half an hour, my whole life came to an end.

Everyone's gone. I'm alone. There's… nothing…

It's a funny thought, really. So much in such a short amount of time, so much now while everything else in life had held me by the hand. But here there was no guidance. No sergeant to lead the way.

Just me, my gun and my flashlight. No backpack, but my bulletproof vest had ammo, first aid and some basic tools. Chemlights, a grenade…

Wait. Amidst the dark there was something else.

My vision was coming together and now I could feel my head returning to some semblance of normality. This wasn't a basement, but a long corridor reeking of wet newspaper and old, moist air. Some sort of moss grew out from the sides and in between cracks in the wall, staining the world in a green and grey that didn't mix well in the light of the flashlight.

Deeper down the line, something was reflecting light. It was too far to be illuminated, but two faint specks shone through the dark.

Two faint specks… eyes.

That's when I heard the scream.

And that's when I screamed too.

* * *

**PRIORITY**

**FROM COMSEVENTHFLT**

**TO USS Springfield (SSN 761)**

**EA RESTRICTED/N02000/**

**MSGIS/OPERATIONS/**

**TASKING/COMSEVENTHFLT/**

**SUBJ/MISSION ASSIGNMENT/**

**RMKS/1. AREA ASSIGNMENT. SOUTH PACIFIC SOUTH OF LAT 10N.**

**2\. MISSION. OBSERVE 7TH FLEET OPS AGAINST JAPARI ISLANDS. ENGAGE AND DESTROY CELLIEN "ONE EYE" BEFORE SUPPORTING OPERATIONS. **

**4\. COMMAND. TACTICAL CONTROL EXERCISED BY CTF 74. **

**5\. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. WEAPONS TIGHT. PID SUBSURFACE CONTACTS. **

**6\. OTHER. BIOLOGICS INCLUDE POTENTIAL FOR "FRIENDS" SEE NOTICE FOR DETAILS. CELLIEN "ONE EYE" IS LOCAL "KING" CELLIEN RESPONSIBLE FOR OP. RR 2016 FAILURE. HYPER INTELLIGENT. ON OPERATION FAILURE RETURN TO NORFOLK BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. MAINTAIN EMCOM. ON NORFOLK LOSS CONTINUE TO HARASS ENEMY AT YOUR DISCRETION. DEFEAT OF "ONE EYE" IS KEY TO SUCCESSFUL PREVENTION OF HUMANITY FROM BECOMING ENDANGERED SPECIES./**

**BT**

=== Message Break ===

**IMMEDIATE**

**FROM CTF 74**

**TO USS Springfield (SSN 761) **

**EA RESTRICTED/N02000/**

**MSGID/INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT/CTF74/**

**SUBJ/OP DATA/**

**RMKS/1. REPORTS FROM FLEET OPERATIONS REPORT LANDING TO BE MET WITH UNPRECEDENTED RESISTANCE AND COORDINATION NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN COMBAT. UNTENABLE LOSSES. GROUND FORCES TO WITHDRAW. **

**2\. "ONE EYE" CONFIRMED IN CONTACT WITH FLEET ALONGSIDE CELLIUM FORMED SURFACE SHIPS. BE ADVISED THAT FRIENDLY UNITS ARE WEAPONS FREE AND MAY TARGET YOU./**

**BT**

* * *

**PRIORITY**

**FROM AUTHOR**

**TO READER (FFN)**

**EA RESTRICTED/N02000/**

**MSGIS/STORY/**

**SUBJ/THANKS FOR READING/**

**RMKS/1. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS CONCERNS OR COMMENTS I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THEM. HOPE YOU ENJOYED, AUTHOR SENDS./**

**BT**


	2. Mission Oriented

In but a moment, the creature ducked away and ran, darting further into the depths of the old sewer before coming to a stop behind a bend. It displayed reflexes faster than any human I'd ever seen before. Too fast to be human, but definitely not a cellien… an alien? Something new?

I'd like to say that I wasn't scared, but the tension in my fingers and the narrowing of my eyes betrayed my apprehension. In an attempt to control my breathing I tried holding my breath, which only made the beating of my heart much more pronounced.

"H-hey!" I shouted, unsure of what else to say. My rifle's iron sights faded in and out of focus in the flashlight's murky glow. "Halt!"

Whatever it was, it wasn't moving anymore. The creature lie frozen behind the corner, studying my moves with greyish eyes. I could see tinges of a brown hood over what looked to be inhuman blue hair. This couldn't be someone off the ships, but they were definitely humanoid… hell… what was I getting into?

"Come out! Come out with your hands where I… where I can see them!" That stutter didn't play the authority into my hands, that's for sure, but the creature seemed to get the message as I shuffled forwards, one foot after another, focus nailed to those grey eyes.

It spoke loud and fast, almost scratchy in the back of it's throat. In the confines of the tunnel it might as well have been a shout - but the words? Incomprehensible.

Reluctant, it stepped out from behind the bend. It was… feminine, a girl for sure - but with a tail suspended just above the concrete floor. Brown with darker stripes. Not human.

Could this be one of those animal girls the rumors spoke of? It was the only reasonable explanation. She had to be one of them, alive and in the flesh, one of the fabled inhabitants of a long lost Japari Park. They were real, huh... I mean, she was standing right there, and it's a little impossible to deny what's right in front of you.

She stood in the center of the corridor, hands stuck in her pockets and a look that dabbled between disgust and intrigue plastered to her face. Waiting. Watching my rifle, my flashlight, me.

She said something again, this time low, under her breath. Chinese? No, I knew Chinese from those cartoons back home - _Ni Hao Kai Lan_, was it? No, though an interesting recollection nonetheless.

Korean? It couldn't be Korean. Ever since the missile crisis at the end of 2020 I paid a lot of attention to those Korean broadcasts and heard a lot of what their language had to offer. This wasn't Korean, at least to the best of my knowledge.

Before the evacuation and the cover up, Japari Park was maintained by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, and thus the island chain had Japanese as their primary language. It only made sense that this hooded girl was speaking that language, right?

Taking a deep breath, I pulled my left hand off my gun and into my vest pocket. In no time I retrieved my cell phone, an iPhone 14, swiped over the screen and brought up my trusty _Google Translate_ app.

"Hello." I spoke, holding the phone up to my mouth.

"Kon'nichiwa." Came the device's translation. I outstretched my hand before the barrel of my gun, pressing down on the playback button.

She looked puzzled, tilting her head and eyeing the screen with what might've been a humored smile. That was understandable, and as a sentient being, I'd anticipate more than just confusion right around now.

Lowering my weapon, I tapped at the iPhone with both hands.

"Anatahadare?" The translation returned, and I hoped that she could understand.

Did it come out right? Was this even Japanese that she was speaking? Fuck… I hope I didn't look like more of a fool than I already did.

She gave me a smirk from under that hood, leaning forward and speaking through the device.

"I am Tsu Chino ko, and you are the idiot."

"Alright." I nodded, withholding my happiness that overt hostility wasn't the first emotion being displayed. "How's this…"

"Watashi wa Arendesu. Anata wa tsuchinokodesu." The device beeped, introducing myself and elaborating on their name. I wanted to show that I had peaceful intentions, so I plugged that in too. "Watashi wa anshin shite imasu."

"Eh?" She stepped closer, coming close enough for me to see her much better.

"What in hell are you doing in here?" The translation chirped. It was a lot less harsh of a voice than Tsuchinoko's, which seemed to be wrestling to engulf all of the sewers.

"Uh…"

She asked a simple enough question. And sure, had she known English, it'd be easy enough to answer. But through _Google Translate_? Who knows how many errors I'd get in the process.

"Look, this thing's a hunk of junk." I said into the machine. "I don't know your language. Do you know the way out of these sewers?"

The translation came and went, and Tsuchinoko stood there for a moment, thinking. For the most part I'm sure that she got the message, as simple as it was.

Through the dim haze of the flashlight, her thoughts radiated through the expressions that she wore almost too well. There was confusion, then came deliberation, but after another moment of thought she radiated resolution.

"You are coming with me." _Google_ _Translate_ conveyed, aligning with her wave for me to follow. Stepping back towards where she came from, the rational part of me was hesitant to follow.

That kinda seemed more of a demand than anything else. You are coming with me? That's definitely a demand, come to think of it. An order.

Her wooden sandal-like shoes clicked against the concrete as I kept close to her footsteps. These sewers had long since dried up, which meant that any sort of public works had been aged to hell and back. That made sense by the looks of things on the surface yet remained as a testament to the downfall of such civilization.

You could make a metaphor with all this. The end of man, rise of animals, feral and lost among the monsters that ended the past. My dad hated the fact that I loved poetry so much. It wasn't manly, he said. If he couldn't brag about it to the other guys he drank with, it wasn't something he wanted me to do. I guess he was right in the end.

Poetry wasn't going to get me out of this mess.

Tsuchinoko came to a stop beside a ladder. She pointed to it and told me to climb in that Japanese of hers, one that I really didn't need a translation to interpret. Honestly, in any other situation I'd have done so in a heartbeat. But after a fall and seeing how aged things were, I'd be damned if I had to trust my weight to such degraded metal.

Frowning, I slung my weapon over my back and placed both hands on the bars. I could already feel the metal groaning under the pressure.

Gulping down fear was one thing, and at the end of the day I knew I'd look back at this and laugh. But right now, I hoped that I'd just fall now and get it over with.

Tsuchinoko cleared her throat, waiting for me to go. The impatience of an inhuman creature wasn't something I wanted to mess with, nor was it something I needed right now.

With fear at my heart and resolve lost on the shores of my home country, I steeled myself for the ascent.

* * *

"You hear that?" Serval asked, glancing at a confused Caracal.

Serval stood atop the remains of a ruined bus, one that had clogged a four way intersection in a time lost to man. The city was full of new sights and smells, noises and lights. Was this area always like this?

Caracal's ears perked up as she stepped to the base of the bus. With one hand on the bus' rusted hood and the other on her hip, she set her attention to the sound of popping further down the street.

"I've never heard anything like that, Serval." She replied, paying more attention to the strange metal trees that lined the intersection. From their branches hung metal boxes, and from them lie three differently colored circles. Red, yellow and green.

"I think we should check it out!" She exclaimed, tensing for adventure. "Do you know of any Friends that live in this area?"

"Yeah," Caracal droned on, arching her head back towards the sun. Never before had she seen buildings so tall, yet so old that trees and leaves grew from the windows and cracks. "Do you know Rock Dove, or Pigeon? I think she lives on the other side of the area."

"Can't say we've met!" Serval chirped, swaying side to side with thoughts of meeting new friends lingering at the back of her mind. "Maybe we can say hello later."

"Sure." Caracal sighed, looking down the street. "What do you think we'll find out here, anyways?"

"Who knows! It's an adventure." Serval grinned as she hopped down from the bus. Coming to Caracal's side, she felt that adventure was just a stone's throw away. They were on the lookout for anything that could give them hints as to the origins of the lights over the ocean.

Tsuchinoko had passed through the Savanna not long ago. She mentioned the lights, the ones that Serval thought could be just little stars that wanted to play. Caracal found that hypothesis funny and Tsuchinoko looked to be thinking the same thing, which was really mean! They didn't know what they were either, which meant that Seeval could be right.

The snake from the desert didn't want them to come with her, which was also quite mean. After Kaban left on her own, leaving Serval behind, Serval was itching for another journey and another good friend. Of course Caracal wouldn't be able to replace Kaban in a million years. But now? Having a friend at her side once again was a thrill in itself.

"Come with me!" Serval pointed for the sounds. "Maybe there's a star there!"

"You're real funny, Serval." Caracal rolled her eyes, revealing a smile only once the other savanna cat had wandered off. "Always dumb."

"What was that?" Serval looked back, pausing with one foot atop a hunk of concrete. "Did you say something?"

"No," the other cat sighed. "Let's just keep going."

With that, the two girls wandered deeper towards the sounds of what they thought to be mere pops. Their echos ran through the lifeless husks of cars, storefronts and convenience stores.

Years of solitude lie interrupted as Serval paved a path through an urban jungle lost to time.

* * *

"ScanEagle UAV, designated Horus, has a visual on the crash sites." The radio transmission came through loud and clear. "If there were any survivors, it looks like those celliens got to them by now."

Sergeant Dalloway crouched low, watching the rest of his squad line up along the street behind him. It was quiet by now - the gunfire that ripped through the area seemed to have been silenced for good.

All eleven of them had taken up a position behind cars, concrete barricades and even trash receptacles left alone along the side of the road. Silent sentinels, he thought, was a fitting term.

Looking towards the sky, Dalloway watched as a unmanned airplane the size of a skateboard drift away. Cruising along the middle of the street, it did a flyby of the wreckages ahead of the soldiers before pulling higher into the sky.

The wrecks…

Four of the SH-60s has found themself a final resting place in the middle of the four-lane street. Another one had lodged itself into the towering structure beside the road, concrete smashed to make room for a snarled carcass of smoldering metal.

"Horus is on station for ten minutes, repositioning to a higher altitude. Will continue to provide reconnaissance of the area in just a sec, over."

"Copy that, Horus. Give us a call if you see anything. Alpha-one actual, out."

Dalloway concluded, grim. It's not every day that you're sent to check up on the people that had as much of a chance of living as you did. Even then, those days came far too often for the Sergeant.

It took sealing away fear, trimming down emotion until it was absolutely necessary. He'd say he was fine and that's true. No one was going to get between him and the monsters that took away life from him and so many others. No mere thought was going to be the one to sacrifice the greater good.

Now that everyone was gone, he was the only one who could take his men and push them to success. He always was. Here, now, and forever.

No room for fear, that's what he thought over and over again as he waved on half his team. The first fireteam rushed forwards, knowing that their job.

The second fireteam took up a position from where they could see down the road, watching the first fireteam as they advanced through the ruins and to the wrecks. In the event they encountered an enemy, they would open fire to suppress the target and allow the first fireteam to gather themselves to engage in turn. Bounding was a critical component of fire and maneuver.

"Alpha one, Horus, FLIR picked up two contacts heading south-southeast along your road. We lost them between a set of trucks, but they just passed by the wrecks and are headed straight for you, over."

Farragut, who had been advancing with the first fireteam, halted at the driver's side of an old Honda.

The whole group raised fists, indicating that they were to pause. The signal was returned by the Sergeant to the second fireteam, who knew exactly what that might mean. Fingers slid over triggers as they watched the road for shadows, shimmers, anything.

A streak of yellow, a hint of orange. Colors wafted between windshields and rusted glass, cracked mirrors and puddles between cracks and leaves. Then came the whispers.

"Did you see that?"

"The left, watch the left!"

"A cellien?"

"No! Couldn't be!"

"Keep all around security!" Broke Dalloway with a sharp whisper, creeping up behind Farragut as fast as he could. Coming to a kneel, he pat the private on the shoulder. "Alright. Go check that out. Behind the truck."

Wordless, Farragut rose. Ahead of him was an old cargo truck that, in the right time, transported goods from place to place. The soldier took a step forwards, readjusting his grip on his gun.

And that's when Serval poked her head out from behind the truck, revealing herself to everyone.

Farragut froze.

"Sugoi!" She exclaimed, sending shivers down Farragut's spine. Continuing in Japanese, her words reverberated down the once silent streets with an roar that washed out the murmuring crackles of flames.

"Open fire!" Dalloway shouted. All eyes went to the yellow, and then came the rattle of war.

* * *

Japari Heights. That's what the sign said at the front of the apartment complex that Tsuchinoko had been fixed on.

They left the sewers and walked a short distance to the front of the building. It got hard to walk due to the pain in my hip and the throbbing in my head, but Tsuchinoko seemed to understand that I took a fall.

That didn't mean she wasn't going to be patient however. Frowning at the doorway, the snake girl leaned on a rickety metal doorframe. In the past it was a sliding glass door, but today it was a hollowed out reminder of how low we've fallen.

"Alright, alright," I grumbled, heels on the sidewalk and weaving around desecrated luggage bags, carts and debris. "I'm coming."

She hissed something fierce before she stepped through the frame, careful to duck her head beneath broken glass.

I followed suit, wandering into the lobby with an eye on the desk before me. Gosh… what a place.

Couches in the corner lined a table with three legs, and I wondered if you could sit in them without it all collapsing on you. Through the whole murky and dank lobby lie old papers, shards of glass, bits of lightbulb and even bags here and there. I could tell that this place was cleared out in a hurry.

I approached the front desk where Tsuchinoko was waiting for me, arms crossed and tail swaying softly. Did she ever take off that hood of hers? I can't imagine it to be comfortable to have on all day long. Probably leaves her with awful bedhead.

"What, do you want me to check us in?" I tried to smile but for some reason it didn't feel fitting. Not here. Not now.

I brought out my phone again, flipping for _Google Translate_. In the low light from the outdoors wading in, the phone lit up my face as I tapped away.

Tsuchinoko watched as I dabbled with the device. With the way she looked it was as if she'd never seen a phone before… and that was really awkward. I dared not peek up and meet her eyes as the app finally loaded.

"Thank you for getting me out of there." I held the phone between my head and hers, speaking low and slow so it could interpret my words correctly.

She looked pleased but didn't say much of anything. A simple 'you're welcome' and then she stepped back, spinning to take in the room.

I really needed to link up with the rest of the guys. I knew that they didn't want to leave me, either because of some emotional attachment I didn't have for them or because a man down meant less combat effectiveness.

On my own I was vulnerable to the celliens, wherever they were. It was odd that they weren't waiting for us as we left, though that just meant that they had to be somewhere else. Those bastards… were they going after the others?

I wanted to say that there was nothing I could do from here, leaning up against the lobby's main desk and laden with superficial injuries. And there really wasn't much I could do, thinking rationally. I didn't know where they were by now and I wasn't in a state where I could help out. It would be a good idea to analyze the extent of what was wrong with me, step back and check for cuts and abrasions, but not here. Not in the lobby.

"Hey," I clutched my phone as I turned to Tsuchinoko, who had stuck her head up an old stairwell. "We should go upstairs."

Her hands had been tucked in her pockets this whole time, but right now she had one hand on the door and the other on her hip. For some reason she didn't look as though she was fond of me, but the way she kept her eyes on me made me feel like I was sort of an object.

Something to be studied, something that she wanted out of personal gain instead of a mutual sort of deal. Either that or she was just shy and there was a language barrier between us. I knew that the mind likes to play tricks, interpret out of obsession and paranoia, but this was cynicism on a whole new level.

The inhuman being paraded upstairs without looking back, not waiting for me to follow. Wandering upstairs, I unslung my weapon and flicked on the flashlight to see where I was going.

The deeper into the building we got, the darker it became. She didn't seem bothered by that in the slightest. Didn't snakes have the ability to see in the dark, or was that thermal vision? I'm not an animal guy so I really don't know. Come to think of it, I've never heard of a snake called a Tsuchinoko before.

I didn't even know if they even inherit any of those animal traits aside from the stuff on the surface. What's the science to this? It's all weird, really. All of it, from the fact they exist to the fact that I'm the first and only one I know to have seen them and confirm they're real. I really wish I had a chance to talk to the others about this. Talk to anyone about this.

One foot after the other, that's where my light didn't shine. I kept my rifle pointed up, right where Tsuchinoko should've been and where I could hear her wooden shoes clack over the floor. Some sort of maintenance cart had fallen over and I tried to be careful to avoid tripping over anything small.

Tsuchinoko delved into the first floor and I did my best to follow. The hallway reeked of an odd combination between stale paint and mold, and I wondered if I was breathing in anything toxic right around now. With her up ahead I felt much more secure that back in the sewers, but I can't say that it was by very much.

I wanted to trust her and I'm sure that I could after she led me out of the underground, but she was still very much an unknown. And anything unknown was going to be a problem.

The snake girl ducked into an open room on the left and I made my way inside as well. The entryway to the apartment, which was a kitchen area, seemed more or less untouched by conflict as ancient instant noodle cups and utensils lie strewn about. Dust was in the air and the curtains further down, by what looked to be a living room area, had long since been drawn.

Tsuchinoko walked around a couch and over to the curtains, which she analyzed for a short moment. They were blue, thin and made of cloth. She refused to touch them as I stepped closer, but I had an idea that she knew that they were supposed to open.

After resting my weapon against the wall I reached around to the side, looking for a winch. This was the kind of curtain that used one of those sticks to unwind and open, though I had little confidence that it would remain operational after such a long time.

My fingers wrapped around the stick and from there I began twisting, but the whole contraption was jammed. Frowning, I placed both hands on the curtains and pulled.

A tidal wave of dust exploded through the room as the drapes collapsed to the ground. I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut as light from the outside flooded in. Daylight squeezed in through the windows, which had remained mostly intact save for a distinct yellowing in some spots.

With an exhausted sigh I let myself go, collapsing onto the couch. I needed this moment. Just one second to sit down, check my legs, rest…

"Oi!" The snake girl exclaimed, squinting at me from the windows. Her break into some tirade in Japanese led me to navigate to _Google Translate _again, most begrudgingly, to see what she wanted.

"You destroy valuable ruins." The machine interpreted, though I'm sure there was much more than that.

"No." I furrowed my brows as I droned into the phone. "These are curtains."

Fuming, Tsuchinoko picked up the sheets and edged towards the windows. Unsure of what to do from there, she flailed with the material for only a minute before giving up.

"Ktso!" She snapped, letting the curtains sink to her feet. "Nani yattenda!"

"What the hell..." I groaned, tucking my head into my hands. I placed the phone on the couch beside me as I took in another deep breath. "They're just fucking curtains…"

Ignoring her as she paraded through the room, I began rolling up one leg of my pants after another. I had a sharp pain above my right ankle and I needed to see what that was about.

As I maneuvered to check up on the potential injury, Tsuchinoko snagged my phone from behind.

"Hey! The fuck!"

Stepping back, she narrowed her eyes at the screen. I couldn't tell what she was doing but it was obvious she had a keen interest in whatever _Google Translate_ had to offer. This looked like something out of those 1600's times, something like Native Americans being exposed to modern tools for the first time. Humored, I really didn't protest that much, but mostly because I was in the middle of doing something else.

After speaking into the phone in Japanese, she pointed it at me.

"I know you. You are people."

"What, you're not?" I rolled my eyes as I rolled up my right pants leg.

Yup, there was bleeding. Not too much, it seemed, though some might've been absorbed by the fabric of my OCP uniform. Gosh… looked like it had to be a small yet deep cut from the concrete.

"You human." _Google Translate_ chirped.

"Hai," I said, exhausting the best of my Japanese. "Human. Hoo-man."

"Hee you man?" Tsuchinoko mimicked, letting the foreign language dribble off her tongue.

"Yeah, now fuck off."

Tsuchinoko didn't know what that meant and _Google Translate _was not in operation while I said it, so my words remained a mystery as she sighed.

As much as it'd be nice to get to know the snake person, Tsuchino-whatever, I had stuff to do. Getting hurt was a setback for sure, but my tasks remained at hand. Stay mission oriented - that's what Sergeant Dalloway always said. That's also what my father wanted me to do.

I wondered what that sergeant was up to right now, out with the others, away and in those damned streets.

* * *

"Cease fire! Cease fire!"

The chorus of cries rang true, and as soon as the gunfire began it had come to an abrupt stop.

Dalloway had never seen a person with such odd ears before, though he'd heard of people called furries who had that sort of deal to them. No one else in the squad had seen them, either. It was an awfully strange occurance to come across Serval in the flesh, and had they known it wasn't a cellien then they probably would have withheld the discharge of their weapons right off the bat.

They didn't expect it, and that's where everything went wrong.

The gunshots, firm and concise, echoed through the hallowed streets as smoke trailed from the muzzles of their rifles. Had they hit their target? Was she… dead?

"Farragut," Dalloway ordered. "Move up!"

Without looking back, the private grimaced, trailing the truck and turning the corner.

Bullet holes lined the metal, the concrete and the wall far behind it - but no one was there. No human, no Friend, no nothing.

Just regret.

Farragut looked back and shook his head. No one was going to be laughing tonight, Dalloway thought, wondering what the hell was going on.

Answered only by the remains of four ravaged helicopters and the carnage of a fight lost to man, the forlorn city held its breath.

* * *

**PRIORITY **

**FROM COMSEVENTHFLT**

**TO USS Springfield (SSN 761)**

**EA RESTRICTED/N02000/**

**MSGID/OPERATIONS**

**TASKING/COMSECONDFLT**

**SUBJ/NEW MISSION ASSIGNMENT/**

**RMKS/1. AREA ASSIGNMENT. OPERATE IN WATERS SOUTH OF LAT 10N.**

**2\. MISSION. IDENTIFY BIOLOGIC CONTACTS DESIGNATED SIERRA ONE AND SIERRA TWO. ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH CONTACT THROUGH HF SONAR. **

**3\. COMMAND. COMSECONDFLT RETAINS OPERATIONAL COMMAND. **

**4\. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. WEAPONS TIGHT. PID TARGETS BEFORE WEAPONS RELEASE. MAINTAIN STEALTH UNLESS FRIENDLY FORCES ARE UNDER IMMEDIATE THREAT. **

**5\. OTHER. SIERRA ONE AND TWO RESEMBLE CETACEANS. THIS IS A SECONDARY OBJECTIVE. THE SENSITIVITY AND IMPORTANCE OF TARGET "ONE EYE" TO THE GOVT OF THE US CANNOT BE OVERSTATED./**

**BT**

=== Message Break ===

**IMMEDIATE**

**FROM AUTHOR **

**TO READER (FFN)**

**EA RESTRICTED/N02000/**

**MSGID/THANKS FOR READING/ZF/**

**SUBJ/AUTHORS NOTE/**

**RMKS/1. THANK YOU FOR READING. I DO HOPE YOU ENJOY. IF THERE ARE THOUGHTS I DO APPRECIATE YOUR COMMUNICATION, AUTHOR SENDS./**

**BT**


	3. Room's Full

"TAO, Captain, set general quarters."

A chorus of electronic dings flooded the cramped compartments of the USS Gridley, an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer. With the Combat Information Center, a mess of computers and tactical readings, now engulfed in a dreary blue glow, the men and women onboard knew that they were entering a combat situation.

"_General quarters, general quarters. All hands man your battle stations. This is not a drill. Set condition one. General quarters."_

The voice came from the Captain of the vessel, a man tested by years at sea but mere months of combat with celliens. He stood at the bridge of the ship, far from the confines of the CIC where his Tactical Action Officer, or TAO, scrutinized data on dozens of dazzling screens. Now facing the very real possibility that their mission may end in failure and that innumerable lives hung in the balance, the Captain awaited news on their impending tasking.

The TAO, a man no older than thirty, had wondered if this particular fight had something to do with destiny, mirroring the anxieties he had thought on for the many nights and days leading to today. He'd surrendered himself to no one but the vibrant waves of the Pacific, and just last night he dreamt of sinking into that deep, never to see his home again.

"What are our targets?" the TAO of the Gridley stood before an enormous glass projection, one planted over a table that displayed a map of the surrounding area. He'd never seen the Japari Islands before, at least not in person, but even then this map gave him more information than someone who'd lived there their whole life.

"Okay." An officer stood beside their superior, gesturing at a city on the edge of the largest island. There lie a blue semicircle to indicate a friendly air unit alongside a blue rectangle, which represented a ground team. "The _Ronald Regan_ has been in communication with a ground team as they investigate downed helicopters, and they're going by the callsign Alpha. We're tasked to provide tomahawk missile support for them, given targets by a ScanEagle UAV from the _Howard_, designated Horus."

"So, ground support?" The TAO asked, voice raspy from a lifetime of shouting. Celliens had struck that landing group while it was their job to do something about it… and it didn't end well.

"Yeah." The officer nodded with an exhausted sigh. "Still, we're to watch the contacts to the north and south. Datalink gives us some enormous celliens grouping for some sort of pincer attack, I think."

"You think?" With furrowed eyebrows, the TAO grumbled. "This whole situation is so messed up. Don't tell the Captain I said that."

A popup appeared on the screen. This was an X on the map, one placed above the ground team and right beside the drone, right in the midst of the city.

"Alright, what's that?" The TAO raised his voice, looking to their Electronic Signals specialist sitting beside them.

"Sir, just got off the radio with Alpha." The specialist barked, leaning over from his screen. "They've come across an unknown contact at that location, and they're asking us to level the area."

"No identification on the target, not cellien or friendly?"

"Negative, no." The man who spoke to the ground team frowned, turning back to his station. "I'll relay to them that they need to positively identify whatever they found."

Something new, neither human nor cellien? Celliens typically made themselves known as soon as they found people. Considering that there had to still be those creatures in that area, the fact that they were coming across unknowns only complicated the picture. The TAO grimaced at the thought.

"Right," He started, circling the city with a finger. "Estimate time on target for a Tomahawk."

An officer behind the TAO spoke softly at first, then returned with an answer. "Time on target… three minutes. We have a solution loaded in missile one."

"TAO to bridge," The man gripped a wall-mounted microphone as he relayed the information to the Captain. "Tomahawk tasking received. Target is an unknown ground track designated zero-four-three-one, sitting in the city. Distance is three-zero miles. Solution plotted and loaded, and we're requesting permission to fire a Tomahawk missile."

"_TAO, this is the Captain._" The Captain's voice rang loud and true not even a second after the information was relayed to him. "_Hold fire until target has been positively identified. Tomahawk missiles hold fire._"

"TAO, radio," The TAO lowered his microphone to set his attention on the Electronic Signals specialist from before, who had spoken up with an aura of curiosity. "Target has been identified to be… human?"

"What?" Pausing, the Tactical Action Officer was more confused than anything. "Get me a situation report as soon as possible. And you," He turned to the officer beside him. "Keep the Captain updated as we go."

"Aye, sir." Came the replies, and the TAO looked to the map once more.

* * *

In that apartment with Tsuchinoko I don't remember falling asleep at any point, but without a doubt I swore I found myself... dreaming. Or maybe it was a nightmare. Some things were too surreal to be reality.

Some things like voices, words without sound, whispers from beings beyond my comprehension. Celliens, that's what they were. But they didn't speak. They never did. I'd be lying if I said this didn't terrify me. This was eerie, oozing fear, dripping tension with syllables that could never exist. This had to be a nightmare.

I couldn't make out shapes, but I instinctively knew I was in the apartment complex by the feeling of desolation that flooded through my entire being, mind and soul. A hallway of a time that never should've been, that's what I wanted to believe, but who was I to believe anything after seeing such madness with my own eyes?

They were coming… they were coming upstairs. I don't know how I knew it. I just knew it. They wanted me. They wanted me for who I was - human - and for what else? I swear there was something else. But there couldn't be anything else. Not here, not now, not after knowing so many others perished at the hands of an unfathomable foe, one that couldn't want anything but the destruction of all sentient life. Nothing else.

I dropped my gun, one that I didn't even know I had. I had to run, I had to run like everyone else, and I felt bits and pieces of myself slip and fall with every step I took to flee, every movement I made to save my own skin. This wasn't befitting of a soldier, of a man, of someone that my father wanted me to be. Of someone humanity needed me to be. I just… couldn't face it. I didn't even see them, I didn't even need to, no one did, no one needed to do anything but run. Was that all we could do? Was all we as a species do, run?

There was a door at the end of the hallway. I don't know what was on the other end, but it felt safe. It felt like there was something there that could help me, something that would ease my fears, make it so that I wasn't such an awful, awful failure to my dad, my old friends, my brother, neighbors and country. Something to turn these feelings into something to change my life. No, change everyone's lives.

"Room's full!" Tsuchinoko shrieked from the other end, holding the door shut. Her English wasn't real. She wasn't real. The laughter, chatting, murmurs and sounds of innocent life on the other end of the door, that wasn't real. It couldn't be.

But it had to be.

I could feel them coming closer. I knew they were there, I knew that they fed on my fear, that they lived their aborginal lives in hopes of turning everything that I had loved, known, or seen to ruins. To become ancient artifacts, priceless ruins, memories. And that was more than defeat, it was loss.

_Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!_

I couldn't say anything as I yanked on the doorknob, begging, pleading, hoping for anyone to open the door. My mouth couldn't speak, my legs numb, heart one, two, three beats from death, fingers burning from the pulling and eyes clouded with what I assumed to be tears left in stasis. I didn't care for who was inside. I didn't care that by opening the door, those inside would be in danger. I just wanted to live.

They were onto me now. I didn't want to see it, I didn't want to feel it, I didn't want to know it, but I did. I felt pain.

I stopped pulling and let myself go. Let my forehead kiss the door, let my arms dangle low, my knees buckle and the feeling of finality, grief, dissatisfaction, come onto me. It's not that I wasn't good enough. It's that I never even had a chance. We never even had a chance. It's not that it was unfair. It's that it was life. It was reality.

It was my reality.

* * *

**BANG!**

"Fuck!"

I bolted upright from my position on the couch, head twisting and arms flailing at the sound of an utterly deafening gunshot. A musky blanket was draped over me, more of an insult than anything, and at that I knew Tsuchinoko was hard at work here. Scowling, I tossed it over the apartment's defunct television without so much as a second thought.

The room was alight with sound, echoes crashing over peeling wallpaper and forcing themselves into my ears. Blinking once, then twice from my unintended slumber, I found Tsuchinoko by the kitchen section with my M4 in her arms... and there was a hole in the ceiling.

"Bitch!" I blurted, leaping off the couch and towards Tsuchinoko. The blue haired girl wore an expression that spelled nothing less than pure shock, and as I got closer she let the gun clatter to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing!" My arms lunged for the rifle as my words bit harder than bullets. Tsuchinoko sputtered something in Japanese, something I'd ignore even if I knew the language, before she retreated to the corner.

"Oh, great…" I held the weapon up to my face, analyzing the barrel, then the receiver before pulling back the bolt and finding some sort of… stick? Spoon?

Something metal was jammed into the magazine well where the bullets were supposed to go, and the magazine itself had been replaced with what should've been some kind of phone cable a decade ago.

"Did you break this?" That was a rhetorical question.

I eyed the girl without moving the gun an inch, scrutinizing her with what could never have been considered anything less than the most savage of glares.

She didn't seem to know what I was saying, but she must've gotten that I was asking a question through my tone.

"E~to ah…" Tsuchinoko tugged at her hoodie's collar, guilty.

Somehow she not only managed to insert wanton materials into where bullets are supposed to be, but she also figured out how to get the safety off, too. This resulted in some sort of curious detonation, one that either rendered the weapon inoperable or left the entire loading mechanism in shambles.

Either way, this thing was junk. And either way, anything for a mile must've heard the shot.

And celliens love noise.

Grimacing, I tossed the heap that was once my rifle onto the floor, letting it smash some of the floor's more delicate floor tiles. Tsuchinoko walked past me, creeping up to the fallen weapon with some sort of morbid curiosity. She really had no idea what it was, didn't she?

I never thought I'd ever say that 'there's no time' for anything, but here, there really wasn't any time to waste. The last thing I wanted was for that weird-ass dream to become a reality. Did that make me paranoid? Fuck, I hope not.

"Ready to go?" I asked, continuing without skipping a beat. "Yeah. Good. Okay, we should go."

I stepped towards the door as the animal person stared at me from the middle of the room. Waving at her, urgently now, she trudged in my footsteps.

The hallway was as dark as ever, and now without my weapon or my flashlight, a sudden wave of dread came over me. Where would we go? Was I going to be able to find the others now? Was there even a place that was safe on this island? Without my gun, we both might just be dead.

My hand reached for my phone, but before I navigated to _Google Translate_ I flipped on its flashlight. The dreary halls of a post-apocalyptic wasteland made me frown out of what I wanted to say was fear, but not for now. For the future.

"We need to go, enemies are coming to kill us." I let the device repeat my words to Tsuchinoko, who had her hands in her pockets and her hood over her head, nonchalant. Or maybe that was just what she wanted to seem like.

"I want to ask you questions." The snake girl replied through the phone, looking down the hall.

"No, I don't think you understand." I urged, knowing that the computer's voice wasn't able to convey the dread and necessity I needed to say. "We will die soon."

In return, the girl rolled her eyes, voice scratchy. "I will take you to a place that is safe."

She didn't even wait for _Google Translate_ to finish it's spiel before striding into the dark. What was wrong with her? Didn't she understand the danger that we were in? People were defenseless against those monsters, unless… she did manage to live here for a while. Did she have some sort of ability to repel them?

"Hey!" I yelped as I trailed behind her. Her pace was slow enough, and the way to the front of the apartment building was still fresh in my mind. However, she took a left at a fork in the hall and kept going into the unknown.

"Where are you taking me?" I said through the translator.

"I am guiding you to the library." She affirmed, though her voice was more annoyed than anything. "But it is a long journey. We will stop on the way."

"What? No, that's stupid." I muttered. Now speaking through the phone, I watched as she led me down some back maintenance door. "If you want to stop and talk for five minutes, we can. I just need to get to my friends."

Either it translated poorly or she didn't really hear it, but the end result was Tsuchinoko pressing forwards, hissing something under her breath that _Google Translate_ didn't pick up.

We emerged in a series of decrepit alleyways, but the area right outside of the apartments seemed to be some sort of truck loading dock for a restaurant in the structure or something, I really had no idea.

Anyways, she stepped down to the pavement and pressed deeper through the alley. Looking up, I was awed by how nature had draped a canopy of vines in a latticework between the closely positioned rooftops. Like power cables, leaves sprang from windows and waited in the wind as though they had always belonged there. As if this city were made for them.

Tsuchinoko didn't seem interested in anything else I wanted to say, all the way from various insults to pointing out her blatant ignorance. Despite leaving the apartments, I was still really concerned about the threat of celliens and the problems that came with venturing too far from my team, wherever they were. They were my last hope of getting off this island, and to be honest that's exactly what I wanted right now.

Considering how terribly things have gone so far, I wouldn't be surprised if everything's been called off already. I don't care if we don't kill get to kill a queen that might not even exist. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go home.

They had to come get us, right? They sent us here and we had to be valuable to them, even if just as assets. We were on the same side, so they wouldn't leave us behind. It had to be immoral to leave us. They couldn't go, not without me. They couldn't.

"Oi!" Tsuchinoko snapped, creeping to the corner of the alleyway. It led into a multi-lane street, one that was littered with relics of the past, cars, rusty streetlights and cracked concrete. I lowered the volume for _Google Translate_ as I snuck up behind her, making sure not to slip on any wet patches or moss along the corner.

"Cell aliens. Your loud stick was very bad. They are down the street. They are going to the temple."

"Temple?" I didn't know if I should've laughed at the translation or the actual word choice the snake was choosing. "No, that's an ap-"

"Tsk!" She snapped before continuing in Japanese. While I wasn't able to pick it up with the phone, I figured that the celliens were getting close or something.

Could she see them through walls or something? I swear that's got to be impossible. Heat vision? No way, that's dumb too. The fact that she knew where the bad guys were before they knew where we were was a blessing in itself, so I guess I shouldn't be upset at the illogicality of it all.

Tsuchinoko raised a thumb before her hoodie, pointing down the road around the corner.

I had turned off my phone by now so I didn't manage to get what she was saying. This language barrier was just messed up, really. Everything was messed up.

"Well?" I whispered. I made mock punches in mid air before crossing my arms to indicate 'no', trying to imply that we shouldn't be fighting anytime soon. Not ever, really. But especially not without weapons.

The one with the hoodie closed her eyes for a moment, either annoyed at my constant pestering or deep in thought. Probably both.

As she dabbled in decision making, I looked again to the sky. This time I swear I saw something in the clouds. Plain and simple, like movement it caught my eye… there really was something up there.

Down the road, it looked as though there was a drone cruising above the rooftops. It was like a miniature airplane, but definitely not an airplane. Was it too far for them to see me? To see the celliens?

Wait. It was turning.

The airborne object turned towards Tsuchinoko and I. From its place in the sky it drifted closer and closer overhead.

I tugged on my companion's hoodie, beckoning her to the sky. She managed to catch a glimpse of it as it broke into a dive.

A dive… right for us.

"Oh," My heart sank. It accelerated faster and faster, building up more and more speed as it screamed for the street. "You've got to be kiddin-"

The resulting detonation blew chunks past the alleyway and rocked the ground beneath my feet. Shockwaves in dying foundations gave way to the end of an era and cried out with the force of an earthquake, collapsing buildings under the weight of humanity's sins.

Tsuchinoko screamed, trying not to flail her arms around as she ducked into the alley. I couldn't believe that I froze right then and there.

That wasn't a drone. It was a tomahawk missile!

As much as I wanted to think about the ramifications of such a discovery, a blur of bright color swept seemingly from out of nowhere before halting before me. Not a fireball… but a person?

"Mya!"

It had to be another one of those animal people. Standing tall with yellow ears, spotted sleeves, skirt, leggings and a tail to match, was yet another one of them.

Unfazed by the explosion, she studied my eyes as the dust settled out on the street.

"Servalu!" A second one of them, this one in orange with pointier ears, looked much more panicked than the yellow one.

Continuing in Japanese, she struggled to get the yellow one's attention off me. In the first few moments of our meeting, she darted her eyes from the newfound crater down the road to Tsuchinoko down the alley, and me, standing most perplexed before the sudden encounter.

With everything happening so fast I swear no one in their right mind would've known what to do right then and there.

The blue haired girl from before dusted herself off, bringing herself to bear before the others.

While she exchanged aggressive words with the others, I stood, perplexed and confused before finally readying _Google Translate_.

"Anata wa Arenu?" The one in yellow asked, seemingly repeating what Tsuchinoko tried to tell her.

Hissing, the snake snapped at the speaker. She spoke hard and fast, frowning as, I assume, she did her best to bring the others up to speed.

Now, clearing her throat, she looked to me.

"Serval." _Google Translate_ blurped. "Caracal."

"Yeah, cool, nice to meetcha," I nodded absentmindedly as I glanced out the alley. "Talk later. Can we g-"

Tsuchinoko barked a tangent in Japanese at the others, who suddenly seemed to understand the gravity of the situation a little better than when the missile hit, surprisingly.

With that, they each grabbed onto one of my arms. Tsuchinoko grimaced, placing her hands on her hips.

"The fuck?" I stammered, nearly losing my grip on the phone.

Tensing their legs for but half a second, they sprang into the air.

And up we went, soaring above the rooftops, above the vines, the cracks, debris, dust, and relics of a world to be conquered.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't screaming my heart out right then and there.

* * *

"Missile impact! Target destroyed!"

From within the bowels of the CIC, the TAO glared into the electronic display before him. The missile exploded on a group of celliens about a mile from the ground team, spotted by Horus.

Officers who had rehearsed firing procedures for days on end were relieved to find that all had gone according to plan.

"Visual confirmation by the UAV, target has been destroyed."

After a round of communiques from the CIC's staff, the TAO took a deep breath. Hoisting his microphone up again, he spoke loud and proud to the Captain on the results of the combat action.

"TAO, Bridge, we have visual confirmation on the explosion, target destroyed."

Without waiting for another word, he lowered the device.

It had been days since he'd managed to get a proper night's sleep. With a heavy sigh, he wondered if it was going to start to show in his work. While this one action might have been resolved successfully, the day was still fresh.

There was much to be done, and from here, anything could happen.

"TAO!" An officer exclaimed. He has been monitoring their hull sonar and towed array without concern for a while, but now?

"New sonar contact, track zero-five-one-three, designated sierra one, bearing two-seven-four!"

Turning from his seat, the officer winced right at the TAO.

"There's something in the water!"

* * *

**IMMEDIATE**

**FROM AUTHOR **

**TO READER (FFN)**

**EA RESTRICTED/N02000/**

**MSGID/THANKS FOR READING/ZF/**

**SUBJ/AUTHORS NOTE/**

**RMKS/1. THANKS AGAIN FOR READING. YOU HAVE MY APOLOGIZES FOR LENGTHY PERIODS OF TIME BETWEEN UPDATES. BEAR IN MIND, NO UPDATES WILL OCCUR FROM 07012019-01302020. **

**2\. I DO HOPE YOU ENJOY. ANY AND ALL COMMENTS AND ADD ONS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME. **


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